Visa, MasterCard File Suit: The nation’s two...
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Visa, MasterCard File Suit: The nation’s two largest credit card companies filed a $95-million lawsuit that seeks to shut down an alleged nationwide network of “boiler room” operations. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, seeks compensatory and punitive damages based on allegations of trademark infringement, fraud, unlawful business practices and violation of federal racketeering laws. The suit by Visa International and MasterCard International against 18 individual and corporate defendants also seeks a preliminary injunction to shut down the operations and their sponsors, which allegedly have been obtaining hundreds of thousands of cardholder payment card numbers over the telephone.